….Jaya Ganesha….Ganesha Chartuthi….

I luv observing people..But naaaa…Not in a freak way…Ohhh gosh…I like seeing their devotion for their sacred things…It amazes me…Like a mama cooking food for kids or a crafter cutting thread…It is like when you do something in such a devoted way , in a such heartily way that turn the act into something sacred. If you really do observe , you will note the difference. It is a subtle one indeed and may I say that only the open heart people might see.

That’s how I turned into Ganesha devotee. Through the devotion of others I felt compelled to start mine. And I can also add that I have always been amazed by elephant’s beauty and nature.

On September 17th, Ganesha Chartuthi will be celebrated. It is a hindu festival that celebrates Ganesha in sooo many different ways. For 10 days Ganesha is worshipped with prayers and pujas. When it ends, Ganesha statue is immersed in water. It is said that he has to return to his home. Some families used to throw statues in the Gang River or other rivers, but due to ecological reasons, people are putting them in buckets until they dissolve and become clay again.

Ganesha is known as the obstacle breaker. It is told that Parvati , Shiva’s wife got tired of being lonely. She wanted some company while her husband was meditating in the moutains. One day Parvati made a doll of out the clay and blew into it. The doll became a boy who was always around his mama.

The days went by and Shiva decided to go back home. Once he got in front of his house, he was stopped by a boy who told him he couldn’t get inside cause his Amma wasn’t done with bath. Shiva got sooo angry with the boy that he chopped off the litte´s boy head.Hearing all the screams, Parvati went outside . She got shocked by seeing her child’s head and sent Shiva away to look for another one for the boy.

Shiva went searching for the head but couldnt’t find it. After some time an elephant which was passing by, seeing Shiva so sad asked what happened. Shiva told the elephant that he had lost his temper and cut off a boy’s head. The elephant happily offered his head to make the child live again.

With the elephant’s head in hands, Shiva rushed back to Parvati. She attached the animal’s head to the boy and like the first time, the boy awoke. Because of his courage , Shiva made the boy the leader of the ganas, Shiva’s followers and gave him the name of Ganesha. He told the boy that because of his strentgh, from that day on , people should take Ganesha’s blessing before starting new tasks . He also said that Ganesha would remove obstacles from the people’s path and they would call him by many names, precisely a 108 names. Gajamukha is one of them.

There are many mantras chanted for Ganesha. I believe the most known is OM GAM GANAPATAYE NAMAHA. If you feel inspired, give a go…And may Ganesha open all the obstacles for you….